Senior receives recognition as a top graduate

Larke Tyler, a senior at LSMSA from Calhoun, was among 254 students honored for outstanding academic achievement during the 33rd annual Scholars’ Banquet held Monday, April 10, to celebrate the top graduates from Ouachita Parish.

This year, the event highlighted 254 scholars who live in Ouachita Parish and have earned an average of at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average for seven semesters and an ACT composite score of 25 or higher before Jan. 1.

The Scholars’ Banquet began in 1984 when University of Louisiana at Monroe professors Ed Biersmith and Richard Hood and the late The News-Star editor and publisher Bodie McCrory organized the event.

The keynote speaker was Jasmine Gipson, a former Neville High School valedictorian who was unable to attend her banquet because she was on a recruitment trip to Harvard University, where she ultimately attended college.

Her advice to the scholars was to get to know themselves in the next few years, then make a difference with work that matters.

The Scholars’ Banquet is sponsored by a foundation comprised of the Junior League of Monroe, Monroe Chamber of Commerce, the News-Star, Chase and the West Monroe-West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce.